Ten Hag foiled as forward agrees to stunning demand in deal that leaves Man Utd empty-handed
A surprise Man Utd move has gone up in smoke after a Borussia Dortmund star agreed to a stunning demand that’ll force Erik ten Hag to look elsewhere, per a report.
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano confirmed Man Utd were exploring creative additions in the final days of the January window. According to BILD’s Christian Falk, one player under consideration was Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus.
The 33-year-old’s career has been ravaged by injury, though when fit, he’s a force to be reckoned with.
Reus has bagged 161 goals and provided 120 assists for Dortmund since arriving from Monchengladbach in 2012. His powers haven’t waned with age, with Reus racking up 15 goal contributions this term.
However, Reus’ current contract is due to expire at season’s end and he became an option – either in a cut-price January deal or as a free agent in the summer – for Man Utd.
Indeed, Ten Hag was reported by Falk to have held a behind closed doors meeting with Reus’ agent. The fact he could be signed for nothing in the summer would’ve counteracted the risk of signing an injury-prone player.
However, according to a fresh update from BILD, Reus will not be joining Man Utd this summer. In fact, he’ll not even be leaving Dortmund.
Via the Express, it’s been revealed Reus is in the ‘final stages’ of agreeing to a one-year extension with Dortmund.
To do so, the German has been asked to take a hefty pay-cut of ‘almost 50 percent’. That’s not proved a deal-breaker, however, with Reus ‘set to sign’ the proposed terms.
His salary will reportedly be slashed from around £220,000-a-week to roughly £120,000-a-week in the process.
The report added Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr and RB Leipzig had joined Man Utd in showing interest in Reus.
However, the veteran forward only had eyes for remaining at Dortmund where he may well retire at the end of next season.